Art for Jesus - in Japan

THE HERO
by Haroldo Camacho

...In the dialogue about Paul's use of the "body" metaphor I noticed that a comparison was made between Christianity and the Eastern Religions. It was noted that some Moslems were more Christian than the Christians. No doubt such comparisons can be made, given the general understanding of Christianity. That general understanding is that Christianity is a religion that promotes an ethical code. Some would say that its ethical code is better than the ethical code of other religions, or more easy or difficult in attaining. In the end comparative religion turns out to be more than a match between children who tout at each other, "My ethical code is better than your ethical code."

The way that I see the New Testament message is that the gospel or Good News is an announcement. It is a shout, a cry, and a proclamation of what God has done in Jesus Christ! This is good news for all the inhabitants of planet earth. It is not a promulgation of an ethical code that bests other ethical codes.

Not that the Judeo-Christian religion does not have its ethical code ... However, the good news of Christianity is that the ethical code has already been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. He bestows on us His ethical code. God accepts and treats us as if we had done it ourselves, and takes us into His love throughout eternity. That's it. The community of those who believe God has done just that for us in Jesus Christ is a community of fans who can only cheer and applaud their Hero.

Christianity is not a religion of keeping an ethical code. The Shaquille O'Neal of the Ethical Code Association has already done that. Christianity is a religion of Hero worship. It only has one Hero. There's no place for any other players. Christianity does not ask of me to become a spiritual Shaquille O'Neal. If anything I root and applaud what my MVP from Nazareth accomplished---a perfect game throughout His lifetime---no fouls, scoring every basket, no turnovers, making every foul shot, playing every minute even when mortally injured. He's got my respects. I worship Him. He's my game. I may not even know how to dribble right, but I know what He did, and I cannot help but root for Him.

Traditionally Christianity has not been viewed this way. The Protestant Reformation got a try at it. But their followers got back into their ethical game. They wanted to get down to the court and play their game, waiting for the day when they would have their perfect game. The cheer of the crowd when they got a shot off was intoxicating! They, like us, have not realized that nothing but the life game played by Jesus Christ is the one that counts! Do we also sometimes want to get a good share of the cheers, rather than cheer the One Great Player, our glorious MVP, Jesus Christ?